Face endless waves of undead foes, collect experience points, and upgrade your skills and weapons in a battle to survive the night. Even after death, you keep your hard-earned money which can be exchanged for persistent improvements and unlockable content, allowing you to progress further while adding depth to the overall gameplay.

Face the malevolent threat of the Cult, whose members are pursuing a sinister plan to resurrect an ancient deity to bring about the apocalypse. Battle countless cultists, undead, demons, and other creatures of the night and send them (back) to their graves! Each enemy presents a unique challenge and requires its own strategy - and you'd better get ready quickly, because they come in masses!

Bloodshed boasts a diverse roster of playable characters, each with distinct abilities and playstyles, providing a personalized gameplay experience. With a vast selection of weapons and skills at your disposal, you can experiment with various builds to discover the ideal strategy for your survival. With a bit of luck and the right strategy you will stand your ground against the hordes of darkness!

Death doesn’t stop you from progressing. Persistent upgrades, unlockable content, and continuous improvement await in Bloodshed, with the ability to exchange hard-earned cash for permanent upgrades. You can also complete optional objectives for unlocking new skills and game features, ensuring each run pushes you further into the depths of the Cult's dark world.

Publisher Headup and developer com8com1 are thrilled to announce that Bloodshed is is leaving Steam Early Access on May 22, 2025.

Until then, we're excited to bring you another thrilling Early Access update packed with new features, enhancements, and content that will elevate your Bloodshed experience.

Weapon Traits – New Tactical Possibilities!

First up, let's dive into a topic that has been on our minds and yours for a while: Weapons! After we started the Early Access phase, you consistently pointed out your desire for more incentives to experiment with different weapons during your runs. And we’ve listened! But before we dive headfirst into a comprehensive overhaul of our weapons, we had to ask ourselves: "What should such a feature look like to meet your needs and align perfectly with Bloodshed and its gameplay?"

We've put a lot of thought into this and gathered a variety of ideas, and we’re excited to present our prototype solution in the upcoming update: the brand-new Weapon Trait System! Once unlocked via the associated relic, you’ll discover workbenches scattered across all main mission maps. Here, you can give your weapons unique special abilities – making your favorites even more powerful and unique in every run!

Depending on the weapon type, you’ll have access to up to three traits that are randomly rolled for each run. All you need to do is reach the appropriate level for the weapon and activate the trait at the workbench. This means more incentives to use different weapons, genuine reasons to level up, and significantly more tactical options!

We had a blast testing this feature, and we found that the gameplay dynamics shift dramatically based on the available traits. We hope you’ll enjoy this feature as much as we do!

New Missions – Off to New Adventures!

Now things are getting exciting – two brand-new missions are on the horizon! This time, we’re taking you on a journey that will test not only your nerves but also your trigger finger.

First up, prepare for a wild boat ride on an old, dilapidated steamer that has been hijacked by the cult. Stand your ground against the cult’s crew and their minions, and make it to the other shore as alive as possible! As you battle through the waves, a host of new creatures will make your life a living hell, and during the mission, new paths will open up to you.

Your next destination? A cursed fishing village on a remote island. Here, you’ll have to fight your way through winding harbor installations, dimly lit caves, and a stilt village along the shore, all while the relentless rain pours down on you. Get ready for some real Lovecraftian atmosphere! Just be careful not to plunge into the poisoned waters in the heat of battle unless you’re up for a painful swimming lesson!

Of course, we haven’t forgotten about the music – a brand-new track will guide you through the missions in three different intensity levels, shifting in intensity based on the action. So buckle up and prepare for an adventure that will make even the bravest survivors sweat!

New Character – Father Fidelis, the Master of Chains

We proudly present our newest survivor: the slightly frail yet brave Father Fidelis! Equipped with a hefty dose of stubbornness and his legendary whip, Chain Fury, he will fearlessly confront the cult and its minions.

With its high action radius, this weapon allows you to take down a whole group of undead foes with ease. And when things get dicey, swing up to new heights using the grappling hook function – is there a genuine Spider-Man hiding beneath that monk’s robe…?!

Of course, Father Fidelis comes with some brand-new one-liners. What would an old-school shooter be without a few cynical quips? We hope you’ll love him as much as we do – we certainly had a blast during testing!

New Enemies – The Air Gets Thinner!

Over the past few months, we’ve been secretly working on a brand-new enemy feature that you’ve been asking for, and with the new update, we’re finally introducing flying enemies to the battlefield! Kicking things off is the Grinspire – a demon summoned from the depths of hell, who will chase you down with dangerous fireballs. Better not get too close, as he bites! At least he puts on a friendly smile during his antics…

Additionally, you can expect three more brand new enemies. Watch out for these fiends, as they’re sure to heat things up!

Additional Stuff – More Than Just an Update

In addition to all these new features, you can look forward to new spells, relics, and objectives. Stats enthusiasts will be pleased with new trackable values, and achievement lovers won’t be left out either.

And if English isn’t your first language, we have a special treat for you: we’ve finally made preparations to localize Bloodshed – it was quite a bit of work! But it’s worth it: the German localization can now be activated via the options menu, and we plan to roll out additional languages soon.

We’re super excited to hear your feedback and can’t wait for you to dive into these new adventures. So get ready – the next chapter of Bloodshed is here, and it’s going to be bloody!

TL:DR - This is the full Changelog of Version 0.13.4:

Weapon Trait System

• We’ve introduced the brand-new Weapon Trait System!
• Once you unlock this feature through the corresponding Relic, you’ll discover workbenches scattered across all main mission maps. These allow you to equip each of your weapons with unique special abilities, making them even more distinctive and powerful as long as you wield them.
• This system is our response to the feedback we've received regarding weapon progression: players wanted more incentives to focus on multiple weapons during each run and fully utilize their upgrades. With the intricate functionalities of the Trait System, players are now rewarded for leveling up weapons while simultaneously diversifying their capabilities, creating unique tactical possibilities in each run.
• In this initial version, we’ve implemented a robust selection of 23 Traits for you to explore.
• Happy experimenting, and we’d love to hear your feedback!

Missions

• The first two missions for Episode 2 have been added!
• The first mission unlocks after completing the boss battle in Episode 1.

Enemies

• Prepare yourself for four new foes!
• Cannon Cultist: Beware of this monstrous enemy and their little companion armed with deadly cannonballs!
• Banshee: If you hear this wicked hag howling in the distance, it’s time to make a quick escape!
• Grinspire: Our first airborne enemy is agile, can take a beating, and rains down deadly fireballs upon you—don’t let that friendly smile fool you!
• Chainsaw Reborn: Watch out for this undead beast wielding a chainsaw! Take him down quickly while you still have the chance.

Characters

• Father Fidelis joins the Survivors! Armed with a deadly chain whip and a powerful grappling hook, he can catapult himself to dizzying heights as he confronts the forces of evil.

Spells

• Turret: Place deadly turrets nearby to protect yourself from enemies.
• Scythe: Whirl this razor-sharp double blade at your foes—then catch it again for a devastating one-two punch!

Passive Abilities

• Evolution: Gain a substantial advantage with increased XP gains!
• Duration: Extend the duration of your spells for even more effective attacks.

Global Upgrades

• Evolution: Also a recommended upgrade! Permanent increases to XP help you level up faster.
• Area: This upgrade expands the effective radius of your spells—permanently!

Objectives

• 8 new objectives have been added for you to tackle.

New Music

• A new background music track with three intensity layers has been added for Episode 2, enhancing your gameplay experience.

New Achievements

• 6 new achievements have been introduced for you to unlock!

Relics

• Weapon Traits: Unlock the all-new Weapon Traits feature to empower your arsenal!
• Explosive Barrels: Watch out! Deadly explosive barrels will now spawn throughout all main missions.

AI Enhancements

• A new AI and behavior system for flying enemies has been implemented.
• Defeating an exploding enemy caused by the player now counts toward your kill count, and affected enemies will drop loot.
• Enemies now instantly react to damage instigators.
• Melee enemies now attack more swiftly when directly in front of the player.
• Enemies actively seek out the player within a certain range when they have no current target.
• Improved line-of-sight behavior for all enemies.

Localization

• Language options for English and German are now available.
• Stay tuned for additional languages coming soon!

Meta Game

• Statistics: Weapon traits claimed are now tracked for your progress.
• Statistics: Explosive barrel takedowns are now counted toward your kill count.

Miscellaneous

• Destructible item containers (columns) now check for unoccupied spawn positions, reducing the chance of multiple objects appearing in the same spot.
• Fixed layout issues with stats display in pause mode to prevent line break problems.
• Mini maps have been added for the Tower of Trials and Temple of the Damned.
• Corrected a bug that misrepresented stats when upgrading passive abilities.
• Updated the column texture in the Headquarters background scene.
• Fixed display issues for gamepad rumble strength in the controls options menu.
• Resolved an issue in the main menu that occurred when pressing Esc (or the Cancel button on gamepads) while a safety prompt was active.
• Added "Quit Game" buttons to the meta game and pause menus.

Key Features:

• Engaging FPS Gameplay: Experience fast-paced, intense auto-shooter battles across a variety of biomes
• Diverse Character Selection: Play as distinct heroes, each with unique strengths, weaknesses, and special abilities
• Extensive Arsenal: Discover and upgrade numerous weapons and skills to craft the ultimate build.
• Permanent Upgrades System: Progress continuously, unlocking permanent character upgrades to boost replayability
• Dynamic Enemy Hordes: Fight against adaptable enemies with unique abilities and attack patterns. Face off against elite foes who offer even more loot!
• Retro Look, Rockin’ Feel: Enjoy pixelated Boomer Shooter graphics and highly dynamic, fluid movement mechanics.
• Immersive Soundtrack: Dive into the atmospheric world of BLOODSHED with an adaptive soundtrack that intensifies the action.
• Visceral Combat: Relish the visually striking gore effects and satisfying combat that elevate every battle.

Bloodshed is coming to PC (Steam) on May 22, 2025.